


Biological Limbo

by SwoodMaxProductions



Category: Dead Cells (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Body Horror, Body Modification, Chronic Pain, Exhaustion, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Guillain is such a sweet and precious goblin baby, Hurt/Comfort, Overworking, Platonic Hand Holding, Sedation, Sleepiness, Unconsciousness, Whump, selflessness, the Collector has been through so much, worried friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27624820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwoodMaxProductions/pseuds/SwoodMaxProductions
Summary: The Collector is a wreck, his body ravaged by... everything, really. He should be dead by now... but he persists. But it’s more than worth it to seek the cure for the Malaise. And besides, it’s not so bad with a nice bit of comfort...
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	Biological Limbo

First it was implants, designed to mesh with his spinal column and inject serums as needed. They also protected his organs… for a while.

Then it was more self-experimentation. He’d long since lost track of the number of times he’d almost died. The end result was a state of limbo. He wasn’t truly undead, but he wasn’t truly alive, either. A thick bioplasm filled the literal void in him, imitating organs that had since failed. Some of them he still had, preserved in jars.

Perhaps they might even go back in someday.

The Collector stumbled to his meager bed. He needed to lie down.

Not many in the Havens knew the true extent of his suffering. He preferred it that way. They had enough to worry about.

The dogged alchemist weakly moaned, clinging to what scraps of comfort pillows and blankets could provide for his perpetually-failing body. His liver hurt. Phantom pains.

“Oh! Mr. Collector, are you okay?”

It was Guillain, the sweet boy…

“I’ll be fine…”

His ears remained flattened back; he didn’t seem convinced.

“M-Mr. Collector…”

The poor child. He didn’t want to worry him… Spindly hands groped around for a bottle he kept at his bedside for just such occasions. He dug out the stopper with his claws, drinking the powerful homemade sedative draught for the sake of not only himself, but little Guillain. Perhaps it would assuage his fears to see him fall asleep…

“It’s alright. I just needed to lie down for a while…”

“Oh, that’s good…! I mean… you’re always working so hard…”

The Collector smiled. Normally, he would have gotten back up and tried to push on through the pain for as long as he could, but not this time. He could wait just a bit to get back to his work if it meant putting Guillain at ease.

“Thank you, Guillain. I’ll be alright. I promise.”

The tiny scavenger approached his bedside, tentatively reaching out to hold his hand. The touch felt heavenly in the muzzy haze beginning to set in. Such a wonderful sensation to fall asleep to. Hopefully he would feel better when he woke up.

Guillain didn’t leave his side. The boy’s presence was a steady constant as the Collector’s consciousness slipped away from him, limbs loose and mind drugged.

“Good night, Mr. Collector.”

He smiled sleepily, sedated and on the cusp of oblivion. The child’s little hands on his were the last sensation the Collector was able to register before he slipped away into painless, unconscious bliss.


End file.
